Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Cookies

We don't usually eat peanut butter in our house, mainly because the kids love almond butter and it's better for you, but these cookies are amazing. I'm not a fan of almond butter so I decided to make these with peanut butter (I'm sure you could adapt the recipe to use other nut butters). These cookies do not disappoint...I promise. I made 6 dozen this week...no joke ;) Also, I just bought one of those handy cookie dough scoops and they make the perfect cookie.

Chore Jars

I ran across this idea several places and thought I would try it out on the kids. We never seem to keep up with "charts" and daily chores. I love the idea of having a jar full of chores so when the kids are bored I can have them pick a popsicle stick and get to work. They each have their own jar with age appropriate chores written on the sticks. I also included special activities like computer time, which is a treat for Miss B and Jude loves playing with "dada's knights" that he got when he was a mere boy in England. And yes, Jude still calls him dada. That just dawned on me while typing. We always say daddy, but for some reason Jude likes to use the word "dada". Anyways, I bought the large dyed sticks at hobby lobby, printed a picture of both kids and resized it in photoshop (3x5), added a ribbon and their age and wallah! They love the idea and can't wait to get started. Jude brought us the stick that says "knights" on it the other day and asked to play with the knights. Bella didn't give it to him so the only thing we can come up with is that he read it! Just kidding ;) I think he recognized the word and matched it to the box with the castle and knights. By the way, I may be a photographer, but my product photography is seriously bad. Please ignore ;)

In a van down by the river...part 2

We spent the weekend with family at my dad's house (near the Illinois River). Pawpaw gave Jude a fishing pole (which we forgot) and spent hours dangling it over the edge of the balcony and reeling in his pretend fish. We played in the river and spent lots of time just hanging out. Isabella remembered her trip with aunt Celeste last year and spent time drawing with pastels like her and Lest did...by the way Celeste, your drawings are right where you left them ;) I also would like to point out Bella's new do. She had 6 inches cut off...it was heartbreaking. Now I love it! No more tangles, screaming and time involves fixing it every day ;)

A is fot Audrey

So I know it must seem like my little sis has been on blog ALOT, and I guess she has. It's hard to say no though when she brings her friends over and they want pictures together. These are of Audrey and Bri. Bri has been over a few times and we spent the weekend with her and Audrey. I've decided to adopt her!!! By the way, the picture of Miss B is from sidewalk painting that same day. Mix a little cornstarch, water and food coloring and you have instant fun!

PS...Good thing I took these pictures of them before they decided to put holes in their faces ;) Yeah....that's a whole other story :)

How to Build Community

This is lovely...one day we'll all build a community ;)

Smooze Fruit Ice

My kids love these!!! Whole Foods carry's Smooze in the summer so I am going to stock up. They're not cheap, and I did look for some coupons online, but couldn't find any. Just thought I would share :) We make smoothie pops during the summer, but for some reason my kids just think these are the cat's meow. The mango one is the best ;)

The rain has stopped and it looks like a rainy free week is headed our way!!! Our garden is doing great except since we're doing an organic garden, the leaves are getting eaten alive. It's actually not too bad, but I am going to order some lady bugs tonight to get the pesky aphids OUT! We started training our tomatoes, peppers and squash today with stakes.

So this week I went to my new Naturopath and LOVE him and the people in his office. He asked that I bring in any labs that I have had recently so Tristan made a special visit to my DO and picked up copies. The day before my appointment I looked EVERYWHERE for them to no avail. Then after endlessly searching I found them in the playroom with green glitter watercolor painted all over. Needless to say, Jude was very proud of his masterpiece and I had no words for Dr. Leu as I handed them to him!

Audrey (my little sister) and her friend stopped by last week. She actually stops by every week lately and I love it! We did a little mini session of the two of them b/c they are so hilarious together.












Friday we went to Mayfest with my friend Stephanie and her son Alex. We had a a blast, but it was so windy!!! Then we met Tristan and Steph's husband at our house for some dinner. It was so nice for the kids to be able to play outside and they did until it was dark. Then it rained...again. But hopefully the last time for awhile!





On a different note, funny story. Let me first give you some insight into to my children s eating habits. Isabella will eat just about anything. She loves healthy food and has even expressed concern for eating chicken nuggets b/c they are "fried" and not healthy. Jude on the other hand won't eat fruit. No matter what. And yes, that means bananas. As a baby, he loved it. Every day I put fruit on his plate just like Bella's. He refuses to eat it. I have even been known to shove it down his throat (and yes I am ashamed to admit that) to no avail. He loves salad and veggies if the said veggies are mixed into a casserole or something. he used to like raisins, but then decided he didn't. I gave him some yogurt covered raisins today and he ate almost the whole box until I told hm they were raisins. We then found the remaining raisins in his rain boot. He would eat maybe a raw carrot with ranch, but it's always a fight. Until the other day. I don't know where it came from, but the words "eat your alien fingers" (in reference to his carrot sticks) came out of my mouth. He ATE them. He LOVED them. He ASKED for more. So today, I sliced some apples and in the whiniest voice he said "but I don't like apples." So, I replied, "they're not apples, they're alien brains and we need to eat them to save the planet." OK, right now you're probably wondering what planet I'm from. But let me just tell you...he ate the apple. Then he said "I like them now". Food will definitely be getting more interesting around here!!!!

Lots of posts in one day....hmmmmm....

must be raining ;) Today we went to the library and checked out some Fraggle Rock DVD's. The kids are smitten by them. I drank waaaay too much Tea today. I found a really great Kawaii shop that I will be ordering some cuteness from. I'm totally looking forward to seeing my new Naturopath tomorrow for some much needed insight. I baked some yummy bread yesterday from this book. I pulled it out of the oven around lunch time so we buttered some up and started eating. Before I new it, we were all getting pretty full so I threw in some grapes and smoked swiss and called it lunch. We're having this and this for dinner tonight! YUM!

I want a madsen please???

Go here and read all about it! I'm also trying to win one!

My most trusted companion these days.

Creeeepy...I need to get out more!!! LOL!

Anyone...

want to build an ark with me???? I think we might need it if it doesn't stop raining!!!!

Playroom gone bad!

So we have a sun room off the back of our house and it has become the kids playroom. We meant for it to be and at first it worked out really well. The toys stayed contained to that room, the kids rooms stayed clean, etc, etc...

That's not the case anymore. It gets detstroyed no matter what kind of rules we have and even when they clean it up it takes forever. So I had a brilliant idea! What if I turned it into my very own room and shared a small corner of it with the kids for their art projects. Tristan and I like that idea.

So here is the design plan (kind of):

Our sunroom/kids art room by ajav on Polyvore.com

What do you think?

I read this little blog post today by Crunchy Peas. It made me cry. It was comforting to not feel alone in my feelings. The last little snippet is so right, except instead of kiss your mom "today", kiss your mom EVERYDAY, "however imperfect she is. She is precious."

Under My Umbrella

Under My Umbrella
Originally uploaded by Bella Seven

Dear April,

Just thought you should know that it's May now. You know, April showers bring May flowers???? Ever heard of that? Well...just thought you should know b/c we've had enough rain. Thank you for watering our grass, but we would appreciate it if you would go away now :)

Sincerely,
The Vaughts

Cornstarch Fun....

so little mister man has been a bit bored lately with ALL the rain. Especially the other night. He blows through the house like a tornado. Seriously...it amazes the mess that one child can make! So I had to get creative in a moment of desperation and whipped out my handy dandy Martha Steward Crafts for Kids book. I whipped up some cornstarch and watch, gave him a measuring cup and some dino's and he was good as gold. Trust me, try it :)

Flossy + Ro + Kenzie + Boogie

Wednesday we watched the Weiss girlies for a few hours while their mama went to get beautified. The kids had a blast and were their usual silly selves. Boog's and Jude have a love hate relationship. It's funny b/c the big girls seem to trade siblings every time. By the way Amanda, your hair looks great ;)

Sick of it...

The rain. I think it has rained 9 days in a row (at least). My back patio looks like a mud whole, the dog is a mess, our wood floors are dirty, the kids are stir crazy and me....well...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

On top of that, thanks to so much rain, and a major lack of sunshine, our garden has taken to sprouting mushrooms (we used a little mushroom compost b/c we didn't have enough and that's all the nursery had) and seeds have not sprouted (with the exception of mushrooms)!!! Our plants are doing well, but nothing growing just yet. I need the sun!!!! My children need the sun. Oh where o where is the sun? I also have a theory that as soon as the sun comes out, Oklahoma will get hit with the swine flu and we'll be stuck at home again. How's that for pessimism? Calgon take me away ;)